2 years and 10 months!

Miss Olivia has had many adventures this month, the biggest being her trip with her dad, Granddad, Nona, Uncle Ian, Auntie Helen and Gus to visit the Paynter clan in Kentucky and Tennessee. It was quite the tour of the Smoky Mountains and her granddad's hometown of Middlesboro, KY. Here's a picture of Olivia with her Granddad seeing the fall colors of the Smokies:

Life around the house has been sometimes challenging, but most of the time very fun. There is singing and dancing and even repeating of favorite movie lines. She gets a very serious face, puts her hands on her hips and says the line from Tangled: "I'm the lost princess. Aren't I?!"

And speaking of magical thinking, Olivia has started talking about monsters and dragons and being afraid of them, though she'll soon talk herself out of being afraid by saying, "it's just a little tiny dragon." We like to go on walks in the afternoon to look for neighborhood cats that we can pet, though the walk usually ends up a journey to find monsters and big, big leaves.


She's also showing her compassionate side much more. A little boy at the park was calling out for his mother and Olivia heard him from the other side of the play structure and kept asking him if he was alright. Finally she walked up and over stairs and stood right beside him. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Don't worry, we'll find your mommy." She likes when people or her dolls hug. She says, "They love their 'chothers."

One of her favorite games is hiding, and here she is in her "nest" aka a very large basket:


She is also a fan of her numbers and letters:

She's my little cutie pie.

2 years and 9 months

"She wants her babies." It's 6am and Olivia is crouching in front of the fireplace in the living room.

"What babies?" I ask.

Olivia lowers her chin and looks up at me with an expression that says she's about to tell me something very serious and factual. "Shovel babies," she says.

"Ahh." I realize she's talking about the brass fireplace shovel that is leaning against the mantel. Last night as I tried to build a fire she had shown a lot of interest in it. This morning it is a mommy shovel with babies.

As it happens, there are a couple of little plastic shovels in the toy box. I dig them out and present them as the missing babies. Olivia is satisfied with this and proceeds to arrange the baby shovels around their mommy, speaking softly to them in a reassuring tone.

Olivia is starting to do a lot of this kind of pretend play. Her toys talk to each other. She changes the pitch of her voice to give each one a distinct personality. The toys ask about each other's wellbeing. They discuss their relationships. Usually these relationships are of the parent/child sort. The toys have needs. Usually they want their mommies and daddies. Sometimes they want their babies.

Sometimes there's danger. Olivia has invented a game called "Hide from the Dragon" wherein she yells "Here comes the dragon!" and we have to hide under a blanket until it's gone. When did she hear about dragons? When was the last time we watched or read anything having to do with dragons?

This is the kind of thing that amazes me. The way she collects information autonomously. I realize I've been taking it for granted that she only retains the information we consciously pass on to her. She's actually pulling this stuff in from everywhere, processing it, turning it into things I never could have expected. Like shovel babies.

This is a very sad-faced picture of her, but it's the most recent one I have. Her face was so full of pathos I couldn't resist taking the shot. She's actually a pretty happy kid, but this shot is still 100% Olivia.

--

Chris

Sculpture

This is what Olivia spent a good deal of time on yesterday: an assemblage of Brain Quest cards, coasters, a magic wand, and broken a green necklace. She called it her sculpture and that the green necklace was keeping the magic wand warm.

2 years and 8 months!

(Chris wanted to write this month's update, but he's out of town for work so I'm giving him a pass. This time.)

This month has been full of sunshine (finally!). Chris and I had our four year wedding anniversary and celebrated with a kid-free night at Salishan. On our actual anniversary on the 18th, a Thursday, we three had burritos at Taco del Mar, a walk around a super cute neighborhood in southeast, and then ice cream at Pix. Pretty much a perfect date.

As for Olivia, she's been enjoying her social life filled with lots of other friends, both known and unknown. She really loves her cousin Isabel and they even got to have a sleep over last weekend at Granddad's. She also loves her other cousin Elena, though, they are so similar in age and therefore so similar in what aggravates each other that tears are shed in equal numbers with hugs. Chris thinks it will be a good thing to get her into a preschool when she turns three, so stay tuned for news about that.

Olivia also loves her favorite game, "go to sleep," which is pretty nice for me when I just want to relax. She brings all of her stuffed animals from her bed and piles them up around me, covers my toes with a blanket, and reads me a story. She also sings a lot, including a selection of songs from "Tangled" which is also her favorite movie. What's funny is that she sings at the top of her lungs with pure joy and gusto, "And at last I see the light!" And she mimics the way the singers get quiet or loud. Chris and I get a kick out of hearing her sing and hope she'll continue.

As for potty training, I dare say we're done! We're not using diapers during the day or night. A few weeks ago, she said she didn't want to have diapers on at night, so Chris came up with the brilliant idea of putting a potty in her room. Now, if she has to pee at night or during her nap, she'll get up, pee into her little potty, and get back into bed. Incredible!

One last thing: Olivia is very polite. I'm not sure where it comes from. When someone gives her a compliment, she'll say, "Thank you very much!" And when we were getting ready to go to our friend's house last night, she looked at my dress and said, "Mama, you look wonderful."

Love this kid.

Ecentricities and things I don't want to forget

Olivia is entering what I hope is a never ending eccentric phase. She's so interested in dress-up, imaginary creatures, and creative play.

Here she is reading her "newspaper" in her swimsuit (it's actually a publication I wrote for the Oregon Arts Commission):

Trying on Mommy's sparkly high heels with a twirly skirt:


Putting Daddy to bed with a parasol and every other toy in the room. Also note the lucite heels she's teetering on:

She calls her braids "parades" because she loves parades and thinks she looks especially beautiful with her hair done this way:

Trying to get the hang of sunglasses:

Where are we going today?

That's a question I hear approximately one million times a day.

2 years and 7 months!

(Sorry that this is a day late, we were at the beach as you can see.)


This has been quite a busy month! At the beginning of July, we went to my hometown, Philomath, Oregon for my 20-year high school reunion. While we were there, Olivia got to see her first rodeo. I thought maybe it would be too scary for her--the fast horses, the throwing of the calves to the ground, etc., but she loved it.



She took to country life pretty easy, actually. She was kind of obsessed with the tractors at the Philomath Frolic.

Chris and I both fantasize about moving to the country, living off the grid, buying goats and making cheese... We would love for Olivia to grow up with a familiarity and love of the outdoors that rural living fosters, but alas, I think we (the grown-ups) would get bored after a while. But, it makes me happy to show Olivia where I was raised and let her experience the truly simple pleasures of small town life.

Another adventure this month was our annual all-girl trip to the beach. It was super-fun with cousins Franny, Hazel, Ava & Elena, Grandma and aunties. Olivia's favorite part seemed to be blowing bubbles with Franny and playing in the pools created during low tide with Elena.


Besides our travels, Olivia's been growing and changing every day. She makes up games for us to play, for instance today, she took toys away from me and then I had to cry and she gave them back. (I didn't say they were particularly interesting games.) Her games seem to mirror things she's having trouble with in other parts of her life, like when she has to share her toys. She also takes her Little Critters and has them talk to each other and likes to organize them in little scenes, like all in bed or sitting at their tables. She's probably 75% understandable in her everyday conversation which makes all of us much less irritable.

2.7 is awesome.